black with a huge towering head on the top that would not quit. Spilling over the sides it left everything just completely soaked and sticky with a thin chocolate covered film. A wonderful mess indeed. Rich notes of bourbon and Vanilla welcome you in on this one and play off each other nicely. Warming lets a touch of the chocolate underneath peak its head up but not as much as I would have liked, still, very nice. As I take a sip, it crashes over the palate. Richness that is well served to say the least. Creamy and full bodied the deep chocolate and roasted malts interact with vanilla and a leather and tobacco note making it all so smooth and full that it was absurd. Enormous flavor here that was simply hard to withstand

A: The beer pours dark brown in color with a finger of off-white head.

S: Definitely a bit boozy. Lots of rum, vanilla, and oak to go along with nice chocolate aromas. There's a touch of coconut and a mild spice and dark fruit character.

T: The flavor lacks that ethanol character that the nose has which makes it much more enjoyable. Nice roast and chocolate notes along with rum, vanilla, and coconut. A touch of toffee and some cocoa powder and raisins.

M: Medium bodied with a medium, smooth carbonation.

O: The flavor was very nice, but the booze of the aroma was my only real knock on this.

In the glass this beer appears black with read highlights with no head. The smell and taste mirror eachother: sweet wort-like with lots of rum, raisin, chocolate, and vanilla scents and flavors. This goes down very smoothly with a mouthfeel and carbonation that are spot on. A very good beer but I think I preferred the non-barrel aged version just a little bit more.

Had this one on-tap at the Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Porter release on 7/23.

A - Poured in a CCB snifter with a deep ruby red color and very thin head. Looked pretty thick coming out of the tap as well. No head retention on this one though.

S - Very boozy from the rum with hints of chocolate and a sweet lactose hint as well. A faint whiff of wood is in the background as well.

T - Again, the first thing noticed is the semi-aggressive rum flavoring from the barrels. No info provided as to what kind of barrels, how long they were aged, etc. There is a sweetness from the addition of lactose and a bittering chocolate taste as well. There is a nice woody chewy character to the beer as well from the again process. It finishes with a light rum burn and chocolate on the palate.

M - Pretty heavy body but creamy as well from the milk sugar. The carbonation is kept low as per style guidelines and it finishes dry due to wood. It is very drinkable and the presence of booze is obvious, even if the 8.5% ABV is correct (per the bartenders informing).

O - A very solid beer that can stand up the aggressive rum aging process. Great body and easy to drink. I'm glad it was on tap because I don't know if I'd buy a bunch of bottles, but I'm sure CCB will use this brewing process in several of their upcoming beers and it will work out very well for them.

On tap at the Imperial Milk Porter release at the Cigar City Tap Room. Bartender said it was around 8.5% ABV, but he wasn't sure. Poured into a Cigar City snifter.

Appearance - Almost black, just a bit of brown detected around the edges. No head, but it was poured right up to the top of the snifter. Not much lacing, save a tan ring around the top of the body.

Smell - Rum first, then chocolate. Smells boozy, but it's tough to tell if it's the rum or the actual ABV. It's tough to discern other flavors beyond the rum.

Taste - Better and more complex than the aroma. Rum first, as with the aroma, but a sweetness behind it. Perhaps from the rum or maybe it's lactose. Tough to tell at this point. Finishes with a strong dark chocolate flavor, definite lactose sweetness, and a bit of an alcohol burn.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, but light tasting for the apparent ABV. It actually makes it drink pretty nicely, although I was definitely feeling the alcohol by the end of the drink.

Overall - Nice. Not as amazing as their other big stouts/porters, but very tasty. I don't like milk stouts, so I was worried about this, but there's enough of the other flavors to make this one taste good.